


It Makes Sense (In a Way)

by Darksknight



Series: We Will Meet Again [5]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Aftermath, M/M, Reveal Fic, The Conscience of the King (episode), Wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-19 12:49:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14874056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darksknight/pseuds/Darksknight
Summary: Kodos has just been captured and sent to stand trail. Jim remembers the Vulcan who found him on Tarsus and calls him to give him the news, only for his fiancee to have a remarkable epiphany about the ambassador. Oh, and Jim's getting married to Spock, but he's told about half the galaxy by now, so that shouldn't come as a surprise, right?





	It Makes Sense (In a Way)

_An old pair of eyes, deep with understanding and unfathomable compassion. A gnarled hand reaching out to him from the light, trying to draw him out of the shadows._

_“Please, Jim,” Ambassador Spock said softly. “I am your friend. Allow me to help you.”_

_A thick blanket dropped over his back while Jim was busy slurping chicken noodle soup from a thermos, and a kind command not to get too overzealous drinking it._

_“Who was that old man, in the photo?”_

_The Ambassador looked to him, curious._

_“In your head,” Jim specified. “With the chubby cheeks?”_

_The Ambassador’s lips quirked at the corner; a near laugh, for a Vulcan. His humor faded just as quickly as it came. The Ambassador looked away, his eyes sad and lonely. “A dear friend.”_

Jim jerked awake.

Spock roused with him. “Jim?” When he Jim didn’t answer right away, Spock leaned over him. “Have you experienced another nightmare?”

“No.” Jim shook his head. “Just. Something I hadn’t thought about in a while. I had a dream about that Ambassador Spock guy.”

“You have put the events of Tarsus IV behind you for a second time,” Spock reasoned. “It is unsurprising that you would think of the factor that closed such matters in your life the first time.”

“I guess.” Jim rubbed the back of his neck. “I… know this is sort of weird, but… I kid of miss him.”  
Spock raised a brow. 

“I know. But he was just… the first nice thing that happened to me, you know? I mean, not ever. Just in a long time. He listened when I talked, just to listen, not because he had to or anything just… he did it because he wanted to. It made me feel more like an actual person. I’m not sure how to describe it, but, he really seemed to give a damn about what happened to me. I’m not sure I would have ever been found if he hadn’t come looking for me.”

Spock nodded his head. 

“We should send him flowers,” Jim decided, suddenly.

“Flowers?”

“Computer,” Jim called. It dinged in waiting. “What is the current location of Vulcan Ambassador Spock?”

“ _Classified._ ”

Jim rolled his eyes. “Computer, give me the location of Vulcan Ambassador Spock. Authorization code Kirk-seven-seven-seven-Alpha-three-nine.”

“ _Command recognized,_ ” the computer chimed. “ _Ambassador Spock of Vulcan is currently living on Vulcan, in the Shi’Kahr provenience. There is no further information on his location in Ambassador Spock’s files.”_

“I can hack that later,” Jim decided. He turned back to Spock, who was staring at him with both brows raised. “We should send him flowers. Maybe some chocolates.”

“That is… not advisable,” Spock said, slowly.

“Why not? Everyone likes flowers.”

“I was not speaking of the flowers, Jim.”

“What? Oh, the chocolates? What’s wrong with sending a guy chocolates?” He asked. “I mean, if he was younger I’d be concerned about coming off as romantic but- oh, you’re right. Vulcans live forever and a half years, so I guess even with our age gap-“

“Sending chocolates to a Vulcan is comparable to sending Surian brandy to a human.”

“What? Why?”

“Jim.” 

“Okay, never mind.” Jim waved his hand. “Flowers. And a _paper_ card. How about that?”

“And what would you say in this paper card?”

“I don’t know. ‘Thanks for not letting me die on that miserable hunk of rock?’ Or maybe ‘hey, I’m still alive, kudos to you?’”

“You are ridiculous.” Spock said. “Furthermore, thanks are illogical.”

“To a normal Vulcan, maybe. He was a _fun_ Vulcan. A party Vulcan.”

Spock opened his mouth. His face said _no such thing exists_ , but his tongue laid still. He closed his mouth silently. 

“You’re a fun Vulcan,” Jim said. “You could be a p-“

“Do not finish that sentence.”

Jim laughed. 

“Jim, it is three in the morning. Would there not be a better time for this?”

Jim slipped out of bed and pulled Spock’s black meditation robe over his shoulders. “No time like the present,” he said. He padded over to his computer console and sat down at the desk, opening up the Ambassador’s files for some light hacking. As before, there was coding seemingly there specifically to keep him out. A catch in the code called out to him- sloppily laid out in a familiar loop that said ‘come on in,’ to Jim. He curiously hacked his way through and found the Ambassador’s exact address and comm unit number. He grinned in glee. 

“See, Spock?” He called. 

“Indeed.” Spock’s voice said, right in his ear. 

Jim turned to find Spock watching over his shoulder. 

“Let’s call him.” Jim said. 

Spock opened his mouth to protest.

“It’s not morning on Vulcan,” Jim said. 

“I do not think this is wise,” Spock said. Still, he had nothing further to offer.

Jim called him. 

To his surprise, they didn’t have to wait a full ten seconds before the call was answered. Jim felt himself smiling without even trying as he took in sight of the Ambassador. Just as Jim remembered him, with his hair faint gray, and his face aged with wisdom and good humor. Jim immediately felt a strange sort of kinship to the Vulcan. 

“Ambassador!” He chimed. 

Ambassador Spock raised a brow. “Captain Kirk,” he said. “This is a surprise.”

Jim’s smile grew. “You keeping tabs on me?”

“How would you come to this conclusion?”

“I didn’t send out cards or anything when I got the promotion.”

“It seemed inevitable,” Ambassador Spock said. His eyes drifted up, likely to rest on Jim’s Spock. “Amongst other things,” the Vulcan added, cryptically. 

Spock was staring at him. 

“Spock, meet Spock.” Jim said, happily.

The Ambassador raised his hand in the ta’al, albeit slowly. “Live long and prosper,” he said.

Spock copied the movement, though he moved awkwardly, and stiff. “Peace and long life.”

Jim ignored his fiancee and turned back to the screen. “Sorry to call you out of the blue,” Jim said. “But I’ve got some news. Kodos the Executioner is alive, we captured him, and he’s going to spend the rest of his life in custody.” 

“I had heard,” the Ambassador said. 

“And… well, I don’t know.” Jim shrugged. “I guess I just wanted to call you and thank you. And, hey, I know we don’t really know each other, but I’m getting married soon…”

The Ambassador raised a brow.

“You’ve met Spock,” Jim joked. “I-“

“Jim,” Spock suddenly cut in.

Jim looked up at him. The half-Vulcan was pale. “Spock?” Well, maybe he should have asked before inviting the ambassador to their wedding. Still, he wouldn’t have expected Spock to react as though he’d seen a ghost.

“What I am about to say is impossible, but nonetheless true.” Spock said, slowly. “Ambassador Spock and myself are the same person.”

Jim paused. He blinked. He looked rapidly back over to the screen, where the Ambassador looked nonplussed. He looked back to Spock. Back to the Ambassador. Once Spock had said it, he couldn’t get it out of his head- the similarity was striking. Undeniable. They could have been father and son, but Spock did not look so similar to even Sarek. They had the same, compassionate brown eyes. The same sloped nose. The same sharp Vulcan brows, the same soft human lips. Jim stared.

“That’s impossible,” he said. 

“I am certain the _Ambassador_ can explain,” Spock said. 

Ambassador Spock sighed. Very human. How hadn’t Jim seen it before? “I had not thought you would realize so soon,” he said. “It was unbefitting of me to underestimate my own intelligence, young as you may yet be.”

Spock narrowed his eyes. 

“Very well,” the Ambassador said. “I am from an alternate timeline.”

It was quiet, for a moment.

“So. Yes to the wedding?” Jim asked.

Spock whipped around. “Jim.”

“What?”

The ambassador let out a small sigh of amusement. “You are ever the same, Jim.” He went on. “In my timeline, Romulus was very nearly destroyed. I was able to inject red matter into the sun, which unexpectedly went supernova, in order to spare the planet. I thought I would be the only victim of my actions, but I caught a Romulan mining ship in the blast as well. We were both transported to this timeline. The Captain of the Romulan ship, Nero, came out moments before I did. He must have realized what happened. I had stranded him, away from his wife and child, forever. He found the Kelvin and demanded Starfleet do something to aide him, but of course, Starfleet had no grasp of the situation. Nero was mad with grief. He destroyed the Kelvin, and then very nearly destroyed my ship as well. I was barely able to stop him before he set about on a quest for revenge.”

Jim let out a long breath. “That’s… a lot to unpack.”

“It is my fault your father died, Jim,” the ambassador said, quietly.

“It’s not,” Jim said. “I never knew it was you, but I’ve read the reports, and I’d always been thankful for the alien ship that had saved everyone. Knowing that was you just makes me even more indebted to you. That’s twice now, that you’ve saved my life.”

Then he remembered something. 

_“Please, Jim,” Ambassador Spock said softly. “I am your friend. Allow me to help you.”_

_“You still never told me how you knew my name.”_

_“I have been looking for you.”_

“You knew me,” Jim realized. “From before. You knew me in the other timeline.”

Ambassador Spock inclined his head. “I did.”

_“I am Ambassador Spock,” said the Vulcan. “I am sorry it took me so long to get here, my friend. I had hoped, perhaps, that this time…” he trailed off, shaking his head. “Forgive me. The ramblings of an old man, nothing more.”_

“Tarsus,” Jim said. “You knew. You knew what would happen.”

“I tried to stop it, my friend.”

“I know you did,” Jim said. “And even when you couldn’t, you still came looking for me.” He chewed on his bottom lip. “You knew.” But he hadn’t told anyone on the crew—no one except Spock and Bones. Bones, because it had been unavoidable back in the academy, and Spock, because…

Jim looked up at the ambassador. “Just now, you said—you said my captaincy seemed inevitable. I was a captain in your timeline, wasn’t I?” The ambassador inclined his head. “And then you said ‘amongst other things.’ You meant us. You, and your Kirk. You were T’hy’la, too.”

“We were,” he said, gently.

_“Who was that old man, in the photo?”_

_The Ambassador looked to him, curious._

_“In your head,” Jim specified. “With the chubby cheeks?”_

_The Ambassador’s lips quirked at the corner; a near laugh, for a Vulcan. His humor faded just as quickly as it came. The Ambassador looked away, his eyes sad and lonely. “A dear friend.”_

Jim paled. “Oh my god,” he said. “I’m the chubby old man.”

Ambassador Spock smiled, just barely, eyes gleaming with silent laughter. 

_Jim rose a brow. “You mean… you guys knew that we escaped Kodos? How?” He furrowed his brow. “And why’d you care enough to come looking for a missing group of criminals?”_

_“I will explain later,” Spock said. “Know now only that your worth is immeasurable, and that should it have been necessary, I would have searched this entire planet to discover your whereabouts.”_

“You knew,” Jim said again, quietly.

The Ambassador’s expression softened. He looked sad, Jim realized. Not old. Just… sad. “I knew,” he agreed. 

“That room inside your head. It’s our bedroom, here, on the Enterprise.” He laughed. “I mean. Your room, with your Kirk. On your Enterprise. I got her in _two_ timelines. Two!” 

“Three,” the ambassador said. “This is not the first alternate universe I have witnessed.”

“Three Kirks, and we all got the Enterprise.” He whipped his head over to Spock, grinning. “What about you, huh?” He turned to the ambassador. “Did all three Kirks have their Spock, too?”

“I believe so.”

Jim laughed. “The wedding,” he said. “You’ll come, right? I mean, I guess it’s a little bit weird, but, you know. I bet it would be great. You should come.”

The Ambassador looked to Spock.

Spock nodded, just barely.

“I will be there,” the Ambassador said.

Jim laughed. “Yes! Thank you, Ambassador. It means a lot. I’ll send you the details, but we’ll be heading to Vulcan, so it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle for you. A couple of months from now, I think—we haven’t exactly worked out all the details.”

“I look forward to recieving your message.” He said. “As for now, I will leave you both. I assume you have much to talk about. Goodbye, Jim.” He held up the ta’al.

Jim smiled. “Goodbye, Spock.” 

“Spock out.”

As soon as the screen winked off, Jim spun around, standing and crowding his Spock. “Can you believe this?” He laughed. He threw his arms around Spock’s neck, leaning in so close that their noses brushed. “You and me, Spock. Destined from the start.”  
“So it would seem,” Spock said, sweetly. He pressed a gentle kiss to Jim’s lips.

“You and me, Spock,” Jim repeated. “You and me.”

 

—

 

The wedding was a small one. Spock wore black Vulcan robes, and Jim wore his dress uniform. It was about a billion and one degree out, but Jim suffered in happiness, allowing Amanda to fix his collar and hair. 

“Is it odd that I used to think about this, when you were kids?” She pushed his hair out of his eyes and laughed when the curl fell back seconds later. “I mean, I never really thought about you and Spock getting married. But I thought about the two of you, one day, you know. Getting married, respectively. Not often, but every now and then. Somehow this is better than anything I could have dreamed up.”

“Well of course it’s better,” Jim said. “You never pictured us together.”

“Every now and then, maybe. But then I would think I was being silly, and forget about it.” She stepped back to sweep him over with her eyes. Absently, she said, “Sarek knew from the start, I think.”

Jim wasn’t surprised, somehow. “Maybe that’s why he didn’t like me.”

“You know he liked you, Jim,” Amanda admonished. She spun her finger. “Turn for me.”

He held his arms out, spinning in place, until he came back to facing Amanda. “Do I pass inspection, Momma?” He teased. 

“Hmm. I suppose you’ll do.” She grinned at him. “Nervous?”

“I thought I would be,” Jim said. “But… I think I’m just ready. I’ve known for years that this was going to be it, for me. I’m just ready for us to be married already.”

“I know how you feel. Though I suppose I was nervous. Very nervous, actually. But then, our wedding was so politically important, I felt like all of Terra was riding on my success. I think if it had been different, I would have been the same as you. I knew I was going to be with Sarek for the rest of my life, if I had any say in it.”

“Even though he’s such a grump?”

She smacked his arm. “You be good to my husband, Mr. Kirk, or I’ll write your out of our will.”

“There’s a will?” He laughed. 

“Yes. I was thinking about leaving you some very equitable paper books, but now, I’m just not sure.” She couldn’t hold her serious face for long, as she glanced back and saw his puppy-dog eyes. She laughed, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. “Don’t give me that look. You know you mean the world to us.”

“I hope so,” he said. “Because you mean the world to me.” He turned and looked himself over in the mirror, admiring his reflection. He looked good. He looked… himself. “Any tips before we do this?”

“None that I can think of,” Amanda said.

He smirked and turned to her. “Not even, oh, I don’t know. Anything regarding any press interviews after our wedding?”

Amanda looked confused for about .3 seconds. Then she turned red. “James!” She smacked his shoulder again. “Don’t bring that up!”

“I’m thinking I’m gonna do about the same. None of that, ‘there’s nothing little about my husband,’ coyness, though; I’m gonna come right out with it and say that Spock’s got a big—“

“Jim.” 

Jim turned and caught sight of Winona, standing in the doorway. Her eyes were teary and she was smiling, gently.

“Mom! Come on in, we were just finishing up.”

Amanda sighed. “Thank goodness you arrived. I think Jim was about to say something I was sure to make him regret.”

“So basically, nothing’s changed, then.” Winona smirked and moved into the room, oozing the confidence of a longtime officer. When she walked, waves parted before her. She’d always called the move her murder strut. She came to a stop before Jim and looked him up and down, smiling. “Well, look at that. You’re not half-bad looking.”

“You sound like Bones,” Jim admonished. 

“Good. I like him.” 

Jim rolled his eyes. “Of course you do.” 

Even though Amanda had already worked him over, Winona stepped up and tried to push his hair away from his face, too. When it didn’t quite work, she sighed. “You’re still little Jimmy, I guess. Your hair never could be controlled.”

He caught her hand and held it, gently. “Well, you got it to behave as well as it ever will.”

“Good.”

Bones arrived then, looking one step away from falling into hell. He was stressed out of his mind trying to keep everyone infused with a good tri-ox compound, managing the food and the flowers, and being best man. On top of it all, Chapel had come down with the Andorian flu, so Bones had just about worked himself into a stroke.

“Have you had any—“

“Sleep? Water? Peace of mind in the last seventy two hours? No, Jim, as a matter of fact, I haven’t.” Bones stormed into the room, appraising everything with a critical eye, and then grabbed a stray glass of water from off a nearby table and slammed it back. He set the empty glass down. “Don’t tell me if that was yours. I can’t stand the thought of swapping spit with Spock, no matter how indirect.” Then he looked over at Amanda. “No offense towards his lovely mother, of course.”

“Careful, doctor, I am married,” she laughed. 

“Never stopped my wife,” he joked. He turned back to Jim. “Well. Look at you. You’re not half-bad looking.”

Jim threw back his head and laughed. 

Bones glared. “What’s so funny?”

Winona sighed. “I just said the exact same thing. And he said that’s what you would say.”

Bones actually cracked a smile. “Well, you know me, I’ll give you that. Turn around, let’s see the whole outfit.” Bones nodded as Jim did as he was told. “Good, good. You look good, Jim.” His eyes shined and he barely held back a smile. “Real good.”

“Don’t get teary on me.”

“Damn it, Jim, then don’t give me reason to be teary!”

Jim laughed and hauled his best friend into a tight hug. “It’s not too late, Bones,” he giggled. “You could always fight Spock and then confess your undying love to me. I hear Risa is great this time of year—we could elope.”

Bones gagged and shoved Jim off of him. “Not in my worst nightmares.”

Jim laughed again. “Suite yourself. Best body in the galaxy—going once, going twice—“

“Sold,” Uhura said, stepping in. “To the Captain with the gold shirt.”

“Hey,” Jim pouted. “ _I_ am the best body in the galaxy, not Spock.”

“Sure, Jim,” Uhura said. “You’re on in fifteen. Everything ready?”

“Yep,” Jim said. 

“Good.” Uhura moved to Amanda. “Come with me, Spock wants to see you.”

She smiled. “Alright, dear. Lead the way.”

They left.

“Guess I should get going, too,” Bones said. “Let you have some words with your ma.”

“I have no wisdom to impart,” Winona joked.

“Sure you don’t, ma’am.” Bones patted Jim on the shoulder. “Don’t trip on your way up.”

“Thanks, Bones.” Jim rolled his eyes. “I love you too.”

“See you at the altar, lover boy.”

Then it was just Jim and his mother, then. 

Winona was standing at the window, looking out over the endless Vulcan sands. 

“Married,” she said. She shook her head. “I want to say I’ve always thought I’d see this day. What, with you wearing my tablecloths and marrying your action figures. Should have realized that you’d fix yourself with Spock.”

“I do love him,” Jim agreed. He joined her by the window. “Always have.”

“I know,” Winona said. “Frank kept telling me that he was pretty sure you and Spock were hooking up. For all that he was a fucking idiot, he at least got that one right.”

Jim laughed. “Just when you thought he had a saving grace. No, Spock and I weren’t ‘hooking up,’ Mom. We didn’t have our first kiss until I was a Captain.”

“How romantic,” she laughed. “You’re a far-cry from me in that aspect.”

“What?” Jim laughed. “You and dad were romantic.”

“Not a chance. I dragged him back to my room and angry-fucked him after one too many diplomacy classes and it got out of control from there.”

Jim cringed. “I could have gone my whole life without knowing that.”

“And I could have gone my whole life without walking in on a dick joke about Spock, yet, here we are. Both disappointed. Both unbelievably inappropriate, especially for being mother and son.”

“You can stop there,” Jim snorted. 

She shrugged.

“You ready to give me away?”

She looked over at him. Her eyes were teary. “I already have.”

He sighed and pulled her under his arm for a hug, pressing a hard kiss to the crown of her head. “Oh, ma.” He rested his cheek against her temple. “You know I’m always gonna be your kid.”

“I know.” She sniffed. “Doesn’t stop me from wishing I’d done things differently. Had’t talked to you in ages when you dropped the news on me. And I know it’s my fault, but…” She drew back from him, catching his gaze. “From here on out, I want us to be close, Jim. I want to try to be family. Like we should be.”

He smiled. Reaching out, Jim tucked some of her curls back behind her ear. “Okay, mom.” He wiped a tear from her cheek. “Now no more crying. Unless it’s happy tears because your son is getting laid on the daily and you’re just pleased as could be.”

“And we’re back,” she sighed. “You know, maybe I’ll sit with your doctor friend, make friendly. He has quite the ass—“

“Okay, okay! Message received, you can out-gross me any day!” He shook his head, hoping to rid it of that particular image. “You’re the worst.”

“You had to learn it from _someone_.” She rubbed his shoulders. “I’m so proud of you, Jim.”

Uhura popped her head in. “Okay, Kirks! Let’s go!”  
“That’s our cue,” Jim said. He linked his arms with his mom. She looked stunning in her midnight blue dress, even with her elbows both sporting plasma burns from her most recent tangle with the engines on her ship. He leaned into her, grinning, and laughed when she shoved him off of her, good-naturedly.

They moved out of the prep room and into the hall, where Spock and his mother were waiting. Amanda giggled and waved, leaning around Spock. Jim swept his eyes up and down the form of his bondmate, unable to stop himself from beaming. 

“Hey there, handsome.” He came to stand at Spock’s side. “What’s a man like you doing in a place like this?”

Spock raised his brow. “Jim, I am marrying you.”

Jim’s smile stretched a little further. He could feel himself blushing. “What a coincidence,” he said. “That’s just what I was hoping you’d be up to.”

Vulcan chimes began. It was their cue to walk out.

Behind them, Uhura said, “Remember, Jim, no slouching. Spock, you lead.”

They began out. Down the isle between their guests and into the scorching Vulcan heat. Jim wanted to look serious, but he couldn’t stop himself from beaming, even when he caught eyes with some of their Vulcan guests. He smiled wide as T’pring, in particular, who simply raised a brow at him, used to suffering his human tendencies by that point.

They moved to the dias, where T’pau waited for them, along with Sarek and Bones. Bones actually looked a little choked up; Jim would never let him live it down, later, but for the moment, it made his heart soft.

The chimes ceased. Jim’s mother leaned into his side in an almost-hug before she left him, taking her place in the crowd. Jim stepped up to Bones, who gifted him his ring, while Spock stepped up to Sarek to receive a cord with his own ring, which was placed around his neck. 

The cerimony itself didn’t last long. Jim had to hand it to the Vulcans—when they weren’t too caught up in the aesthetic they were brutally efficient. He suspected it had something to do with it being about a billion degrees outside, but he wasn’t complaining. He’d wanted to be married to Spock for… well. Forever. 

T’pau said, “Thee are bonded now for life.”

The humans cheered. The Vulcans stared. Jim laughed and couldn’t help but sniff as his eyes welled up. He wanted to plant a big kiss on Spock’s mouth, but he reached out for a finger kiss instead. To his surprised, Spock took his hand and pulled him forward, kissing him soundly.

“Alright, alright,” Bones was crying, Jim noticed, and laughed. “Break it up. I’m roasting alive out here. Let’s go in for the reception, shall we?”

“Always the romantic, aren’t we, Bones?” Jim grinned at him. He felt so good just about then, a Klingon could have punched him square in the face and he’d have taken little to no notice of it. “I do have to agree, though. Shall we, Husband?”

Spock raised a brow, eyes sparkling with mirth. “We shall.”

Inside they went through the motions of thanking everyone and catching up with their guests. Jim was mostly working on autopilot, still stunned by how quickly everything was progressing, when a familiar face found him.

Jim grinned. “Ambassador! Hey, thanks for coming!” 

“I would not have missed it for anything,” Ambassador Spock said. 

“Not too self-serving to attend your own wedding, hmm?” Jim laughed. 

“Indeed it was not. Here,” he handed Jim a brown satchel. “It is not the Vulcan custom to give gifts at a wedding, but it is a human one, and I am half-human.”

“What is it?” Jim pulled at the strings; it wasn’t heavy. “Can I open it?”

“Perhaps you should allow your husband the honors.”

Jim laughed. “Now you’re giving him presents? Ambassador, you’re really about self-care.”

“I am sure you will run out of your jokes at some point.”

“Oh, never.”

Spock reached out, placing his hand on Jim’s shoulder. “It has been good to see you again, my old friend. However, I do not intend to stay long. It is… painful, for me, to be around so many familiar faces, knowing they do not know me. I trust you understand.”

Jim’s face softened. “I do,” he said. He wasn’t sure if it was propper or not, but he stepped in to give the elder a quick hug anyway. “Thank’s for coming. And… well, for everything, I guess. I’m sorry that there’s not more I can do but say thanks.”

“Do not be sorry.”

They drew back.

“I am confident fate will lead me back to my own Jim, wether it be through death, or some other method, I care not. Do not pity me, Jim. I have lived the life of a legend, and I have known every happiness. You saw to that. Now, you get to do it again, with your own Spock.”

“And I will,” Jim promised. “It’s my life’s goal to make him happy.”

“I know he will do the same.” Spock smiled, just barely. “I’m sure we will speak again soon, Jim.”

“Me too. Now I’ve got endless cheats, since you know how this all plays out.”

“I do not think I do know,” Spock said. “Already, so much is different. You have altered the very course of fate simply by existing. I am certain you will continue to surprise me. Live long and prosper, Jim.”

Jim returned the ta’al. “Peace and long life, Spock.”

He was gone, then. 

Jim found his way back over to his own Spock, eventually. “Hey,” he leaned in and kissed his husband on the cheek, quickly. “I just said goodbye to the old man.”

“The old—?” Spock blinked. “Ah. I see.”

“He gave us this.” Jim handed him the bag. “I think it’s a rock.”

“I am sure it is not a rock.” Spock opened the small satchel, pulling out… 

“A rock!”

Spock visibly restrained himself from rolling his eyes. He peered closer. “A tag,” he said, in confusion. It was Vulcan jade, carved with a few characters. Sudden recognition flashed in Spock’s eyes. “This is the tag from I-Chaya’s collar.” 

“Why would he give us that?” Jim asked. 

“I… do not know,” Spock said, slowly. 

Jim had a sudden idea and said, “Hold on.” He pulled his comm out and flipped it open; the Enterprise was in orbit. “Kirk to Mr. Kyle.”

“ _Kyle here, Captain.”_

“This may seem like an odd question, but is there anything I should know about?”

“ _Oh, of course, sir. Your package was delivered to your quarters.”_

Jim looked at Spock, raising his brows. “That wouldn’t happen to be a live package, would it?”

“ _… We are talking about the cat, aren’t we sir? The Ambassador said—“_

“Ah, yes. The cat.” Jim glared at Spock. “Exactly. Just making sure it made it up there. Kirk out.”

Spock just looked at him.

“How sneaky does a guy have to be to get a cat for himself by using his alternate universe self to deliver said cat to his door?” Jim wondered out loud. 

“I would not know, as I have not orchestrated any of this.” 

Jim laughed. “Guess you win. No puppy for us.”

“They _are_ quite loud.”

“Well we’ll see if your cat isn’t any more of a pain in the ass,” Jim chuckled. “This is what I get for marrying you.”

“It is what _we_ get, Jim. The Ambassador gave him to the both of us.”

“Him, Spock?”

“… If I were to select a cat—“

“Save it,” Jim laughed. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“Indeed I am,” Spock said. 

“And I’m lucky you’re in love with me,” Jim said, quietly.

Spock’s eyes softened. “Indeed you are.”

 

Fin

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

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